He opened his first studio in 1876 in Moorhead, Minnesota and moved it to Fargo, North Dakota three years later. In 1884 he obtained leases for 4 acres at both Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, where he opened his first photo shop in 1884. Initially selling stereoviews and boudoir cards, he eventually operated photo shops at all the major locations in Yellowstone, and is best known today as the "Official Park Photographer" at Yellowstone.

In 1895 Haynes opened a small shop in the lobby of the Canyon Hotel, and two years later built a log cabin studio next to the famous Old Faithful geyser. By 1912, his son Jack had even built a working model of Old Faithful that erupted to a height of three feet every minute.

In 1890 Haynes began publishing the "Haynes Guidebook" describing the park, including maps, camping information, history, and photos of the geysers and hot springs. When picture postcards became popular about 1900, he began producing postcard views of Yellowstone, of which hundreds of thousands were sold to tourists over the years.

Frank Haynes retired in 1916 and passed the photo business on to his son Jack. The family continued to operate their Yellowstone photo shops until 1967, when they were sold to Hamilton Stores.